Von Bomb says street art is moving into galleries and auction houses

Estonian street artist Indrek Haas, known as von Bomb, says street art has become more professional and accepted, with more work appearing in galleries and auction houses. He discussed the changing scene on ERR’s cultural programme “OP”.

Haas said he began making street art in 2010 and chose the name von Bomb almost by chance. He recalled that he was once the creator of the largest mural in the Baltic states: a painting of a girl with a red umbrella, which remains in Ülemiste City. It is no longer the region’s largest, he said, after Silver Seeblum painted “Ülemiste’s Old Man in the Lake Office” on the long wall of the same building.

Haas took part in a project introducing the work of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences to young people. He found the collaboration intriguing because the academy might be seen as a conservative institution, while some street art is not legal. “I often operate on the boundary between the legal and illegal worlds,” he said.

Five works were made for the project. “Something to Declare!” is on the wall of Tallinn’s T1 shopping centre and refers to smuggling. “Balancing Act,” on the wall of Tartu Mikrogalerii, addresses reintegration into society. “Pin! Pin!” at Tapa railway station deals with online and phone scams. “Breakthrough!” is inside the academy’s main building, while “Readiness Starts at Home” is on the wall of the ball games hall in Kääriku and humorously depicts coping with a crisis when the power goes out.

Haas said street art’s growing acceptance does not mean all artists have abandoned illegal work. He also noted that stickers have become more popular in Estonia because they can be put up quickly, while cameras make it difficult to find places without surveillance. Stencils, he said, were developed to make images quickly; speed is central to the technique.